2009 QT2 Systems Elite Team

Check it out!!

http://www.qt2systems.com/Team_Elite/team_elite.html


QT2 Coach in training

The road to Ironman is now

2009 training began last week. Primary goal is to qualify for Hawaii at Ironman Cour D'Alene in Idaho in June. Primary objective is to come into every race injury free. I'm still trying to heal up some plantar fasciitis right now.

Currently in base period -lots of aerobic and strength work. Lots of drills in the pool also.

I have discovered how amazing yoga is!! I found a class and instructor that is simply amazing. Will try to get this in once a week all season.

Over the next few weeks I'll likely substitute some weekend cycling for nordic skiing.

We just got around 10 inches of snow--skiing should be good this weekend.

2008 Season Summary and look forward

2008 Season Summary

4-5-08 Run Vermont Half marathon; 5th overall; 1:20:39

5-4-08 Green Mountain Triathlon, 1st overall; 1:16:02

5-18-08 Florida 70.3 Half Ironman, 16th amateur overall, 4th in 30-34 (Podium!!; 4:31

6-8-08 Mooseman Half Ironman, 10th overall, 4:27; 98 degrees on the run course!!

7-20-08 Ironman Lake Placid, Finished!; Was injured for this race;very disappointed;

8-13-08 Waterbury Time trial (Stowe Bike Club); 2nd overall; 29:19

8-23-08 Vermont Sun Half ironman; 2nd overall; 4:39; run course was extra long;

8-30-08 Northfield 5k,15th place?; 18:04;note to self:don’t 5k the week after ½ iron

9-13-08 Montreal Esprit ½ iron; 4:11 !! New PR; Run course PR of 1:25 off the bike!!!

10-5-08 Leaf Peeper’s half marathon; 9th overall!!1:20:00;39 second PR hilly course!

10-26-08 Cape Cod Marathon; ? overall; stomach disaster—portolet stops x 9; 3:13



2009 races
A few ski races TBA (discuss with coach)
Hyannis Half Marathon 2-22-09
New Bedford Half Marathon 3-15-09
New England masters Swim Meet 3-28-09
Ironman California 70.3 4-4-09
Devilman Half Ironman 5-3-09
Ironman Cour D’ Alene 6-21-09 (Ironman Hawaii qualifier

2009 goals
Stay injury free
Get Hawaii slot at Ironman Cour d alene
Run 1:23-1:25 off the bike consistently in half irons
Swim 27-29 consistently in half irons

Running For Grampie!! Cape Cod Marathon report 10/26/08

In loving memory of Harold Sargent 9/23/23 – 10/21/08


(click photo to see the memorial bib)

After Grampie passed away last week I initially was thinking I’ll just do a different race. When I found out that there were no conflicts with the race and the funeral I decided I would still race and I would do it in honor of Grampie Sargent. I was able to see Grampie a few days before he passed away and had a moment with him that I will remember forever. His funeral was such an honor to him and the life he lived. He touched so many people’s lives through community service that it blows my mind. I was simply in awe during the funeral to see and hear from all those who’s lives were touched by him.

I was going to run 26 miles to honor Grampie. After the funeral I met up with my training partner Justin Ryea somewhere north of Boston where Lindsay dropped me off. Race morning was typical. I felt pretty good. My plan was to go out and run 6:30 – 6:40 as long as I could shooting to go under 2:55 as my recent performances suggest that is realistic.

Once the race started I knew something was wrong even by the end of the first mile. I had to use the bathroom!!!! I think I didn’t clear out enough before the race. There was no place to go so I kept running until there was a porto-let. I was holding right with the plan still as far as pace and it felt comfortable. After the first portolet visit it just got worse. My stomach was a mess and I needed to do my business another 8 or 9 times. Sometimes in the woods and sometimes in a portolet. I think I lost a good 1-2 minutes each time. I felt awful, stomach was a disaster and I didn’t seem to be digesting my shot blocks. If I wasn’t running for Grampie I think I would have considered dropping out. I went into survival mode and just H’dTFU. I made it to the line in 3:13 and a pretty good deal of disappointment but happy that I finished for Grampie.

This race capped what I feel was a great season. I set new PRs for half ironman (4:11), run split in a half iron (1:25), and open half marathon (1:20:00). This marathon was the first race in over a year that the GI problems were an issue, I just need to hone in on the cause.

Leaf Peeper's Half marathon 10-5-08 Top ten and new PR!!

I was so psyched to race this as it’s right in my back yard basically and it’s a very well run race. I can walk to the race and the course is on the road I train on. I knew the course like the back of my hand—a very cool feeling as most of the races I do, I’m not that familiar with the course other than driving it.

I was using this race as an indicator of where my injuries are and to make a final decision about whether or not I’d race the Cape Cod marathon. I had my QT2 breakfast at 8:30 with an 11 start. Walked to the start---great to see so many friends!! This is a very large half marathon (by VT standards) with around 6 or 700 runners. The race is so popular that it fills up each year. I’ve been shut out of this race before due to it’s popularity.

I knew all the big guns would be here and I would have to PR to even crack the top 10.

The gun goes off!!! My execution plan was to hit the first mile in 6:05 and no faster. Ultimately I wanted to produce as little lactate as possible in that first mile as I tend to go out too fast and this negatively impacts the aerobic system especially at longer races. If you go anaerobic your body won’t settle into an optimal fuel burning state. For these longer races you really want your body to spare glycogen as much as possible. If you go way over your lactate threshold (especially early on) you’re going to burn up a lot of glycogen whereas if you build into it starting under LT your body is going to use a better ratio of fat to glycogen.

I felt great right from the start and was holding back big time. I was trying to stay as relaxed as possible, no wasted energy.
First mile was hit in 5:52. Definitely faster than planned but yet I was relaxed and heart rate was relatively low.
I settled into a front pack of Sam Davis, Joe Mcnamara, Tom Thurston (neighbor and training partner), and 2 other guys I didn’t know. I was completely humbled running right with Sam and Joe. These are 2 of VT’s most accomplished runners and 2 guys I’ve looked up to for years. I was running right in the pack with them which really gave me a rush. I felt amazing. I couldn’t believe I was hanging with these guys.

There were about 3-4 guys off the front of our pack but they were all spread out. My buddy Justin Ryea was about 50 yards off the front of our group by himself for the first 8 miles or so when he started lifting the pace.

I hit the 3 mile mark in 17:37 ! We were moving!
5 mile split was 29:32 ! Whoa. I couldn’t believe how fast we were going. We were holding sub 6 pace. I still felt good but was right on the edge.
6 mile split was 35:35
8 mile split was 47:58
10 mile split was 1:00:48
My 8 and 10 splits were the fastest 8 and 10 I’ve run ever!! And I think the 10 included one of the 2 big climbs on the way back. I definitely slowed on those 2 big climbs.

Around mile 7 or so, Sam Davis and I got dropped from the group. Then Sam dropped me. I hung about 50 yards behind him for the next mile or so and when we hit the first big climb I decided to really hammer it and catch back up to him, it worked!! I caught him by the top of the first climb. We ran together up the next one. Then this guy came out of no where (I later found out he’s the top x-c runner for Norwich U). I jumped right on him like I was in a bike race. Sam got dropped at that surge. I hung with the guy for a bit and then got dropped by him. About a mile later I reeled the x-c guy in and then he attacked and dropped me. He stayed about 10-15 seconds ahead of me for the remaining 2 miles.
I crossed the line in 9th overall and 1:20:00 !!! I sprinted so hard at the end trying to get under 1:20 but just shy of it.

This was a 36 sec PR, top ten result and I was psyched!!! No pain from the overuse stuff I’ve got going as well, which means Cape Cod marathon!! Thanks also to Skirack and Mizuno for the great award!!!


Lindsay had a killer race in the 5k!! She was 4th overall in 20:xx.

Montreal Esprit Half Ironman – 6 minute PR and ran out of my head!!

How do we find meaning in endeavors that can ultimately crush or heighten you? This is something I have been trying to get my head around while bouncing back from Ironman Lake Placid. What I have come to grips with this year is that anything can happen ---especially with ironman and the training that accompanies it. I have learned that my results don’t define me and that the more I give back to my sport the better I can bounce back from disappointment. I have learned the importance of deep tissue massage in noticing problem areas before they become full blown injuries. I have learned that humility is what keeps you honest and at the same time can push the inner drive to take things to the next level. Racing informs me of the naked truth about where my fitness is. There is no guessing, no estimating, just plain old fashioned truth. Race day reveals a truth that force feeds humility and keeps one honest.

This race report is dedicated to my wife – Lindsay and my family- mom, dad, Karen, Brian, Megan, Ben, Matt, Scott, Colin, and Kai. You guys have so supportive of me and my racing---thank you.

I also want to thank my coach, Jesse Kropelnicki and my sports chiropractor Dr Keith.

The Montreal triathlon festival is truly a unique event among triathlons. Staged at the Olympic rowing basin (where we swim) and formula 1 race car track (where we ride) it stands on its own as far as triathlon courses go. It is also very well organized.

The swim was a very physical 1.2 miles and I was about where I thought I would be---pretty far back. After Lake Placid my swim training just simply wasn’t happening at the level it had been. I was only swimming about 2-3 times a week and probably barely getting 4000 yards a week. I was just burned out on swim training. Anyhow quick transition and off to the bike.

I was really moving on the bike course but remembered that my coach had told me to back off a bit on the bike from my usual go all out pace. I was riding well within myself and still averaging about 25 mph!!! This course is just ridiculously fast. My left glute issue seemed to be making a visit and I had to back off a bit to stretch it periodically. This is the one post Lake Placid injury that I still don’t have a good handle on. Anyhow I nailed my nutrition and hydration (although I did one less bottle than normal but it was very cool temps for the bike so sweat rate was low). This was the 5th or 6th long distance race in a row where I had no GI issues what so ever. The race fueling plan that Jesse at QT2systems did has been invaluable. All of my races this year were properly fueled and race fueling appears to no longer be a limiter for me.

I got off the bike with a 2:11 bike split!! And at 2:44 cumulative time.

Onto the run, I didn’t run like a bat out of hell through T2 but rather just relaxed through it and tried to get my body fully upright and get my form dialed back in after being super hunched over for 2 plus hours. Once my form was dialed, I felt amazing. Every stride just felt better and better. I was really moving, holding somewhere around 6:30 pace. I have never felt like this in a half iron run. I was flying, pulling people back almost constantly. I really tried to savor the last lap of the run as I knew this was my last triathlon for the season and I was feeling so good. I hit the finish with a 4:11:55 which is a 6 minute personal best!!! My run split was also a PR with a 1:25:32. I still can’t believe I ran that fast. I have wanted to run this fast in a half ironman for a very long time. I’m so psyched right now. This also gives me some good momentum for the Leaf Peeper’s half marathon and the Cape Cod Marathon.

Thanks for reading!!!
results can be found here:
http://sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=44022

Vermont Sun Half Iron - 2nd Overall!!

Hi to anyone reading this. I really thought people didn't read this stuff until several people said hey John you haven't updated your blog in a while. So here I am first race back after the Lake Placid nightmare. I have a very hard time bouncing back from bad races particularly if it was an Ironman which (as an age grouper) you have to put all your eggs in one basket. I've been rehabbing my injuries (plantar fascitis and a groin strain) and had a handful of pain free runs prior to racing this half iron. I want to throw a shout out to Donna Smyers my PT and Dr keith my chiro for getting me back on track!!

The goal coming into this race was to simply race pain free, have fun and get back into my routine of racing. The venue at VT Sun is a very special place for me and my wife as that is where we met 8 years ago. We also had our legal wedding there (at Branbury State Park) with a JOP followed by the actual wedding a year later at Breadloaf.

Pre race festivities involved hanging out with some of my favorite people (Pat Berry and Brook Jette and the kids Quinn and Willam). I also got to jam out to some very good sound quality Grateful Dead. It's all I've been listening to lately. Anyhow back to the race.

Swim start-- thrashing chaos I was right in the mix after the first turn buoy. My only mistake on the whole day was missing the front swim group in the first 400 yards. There was 6 or 7 guys that I know I could have got on their feet had I swam harder in that first section. Instead I got dropped and was in no man's land until I found some feet to get on. Those feet ended up swimming all over the place too so I would let him veer off and then he would come back. I would say it was an OK swim considering my swim volume has been down.

Onto the bike I was probably in around 10th or so in that first wave. I started hammering the bike right away. I caught several people pretty quickly. About halfway through the first lap I moved into about 4th by the end of the first lap I was in the lead. I led for 5-10 miles and got caught by Dave Connery who was smoking the bike course. This guy is a Cat 2 cyclist and was riding super strong. I actually decided to try and ride with him for a while. I rode 4 bike lengths beihind Dave for about 20 minutes or so and decided I didn't need to ride that hard so I let him go. I actually felt great but knew if I wanted to have a strong run I should back off. Dave got off the bike around minute to 1:30 ahead of me. Bike split was around 2:28 which I was surprised. The course is fast but I thought it was actually a faster course (I was thinking around a 2:23 ish course for me). Those rollers really slowed your speed quite a bit.

Here's a pic of me on the bike
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=mgy44&gallery_id=1240116&image_id=37


On the run I moved back into the lead around mile 3 and then shortly thereafter was caught by Peter Konecny from Ottawa Ont. This guy was flying holding around 6:30s and I just couldn't hang with him. I actually felt strong considering my run mileage has been very low. This run course was extremely tough with a climb around mile 4 which was a headwall and about 1/2 mile long. We hit another tough climb before the turnaround as well. I would say it was one of the toughest run courses I've ever run.


Overall I had a great experience and am very happy to have raced again. I know my fitness isn't where it was in June but I executed very well. I nailed my fueling and hydration which I am really happy about, I had no cramping or stomach problems at all.

Here's a link to the results -

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/08/vt/Aug23_Vermon_set1.shtml



Next up--- 5k race this weekend, Montreal Esprit Half ironman on Sept 13, Leaf peeper's half marathon on Oct 5th and possibly a late fall marathon

Don't let 'em take the fight out of you

I just heard this song by Ben Harper and it kind of sums up where I'm at right now. I have a hard bouncing back from bad races when it's a one shot deal. There's really no other chance to qualify for Hawaii as an age group athlete right now because all the races are full. This is one of the reasons I want to race as a pro (among many). As a pro you don't have to put all your eggs in one basket like an age grouper. Pros can register for a race whenever they want even when the race is full and it can even happen on race week!! Anyhow I'm looking forward to making use of the fitness I built up and do some half irons and oly dist races.

Don't let 'em take the fight out of you.

The other side of Ironman racing--Post Ironman Lake Placid 2008

This is all I got right now. it is really just a venting of disappointment. I want to be positive but this is the other side of what can happen in ironman racing even if you do everything perfectly. I am happy that I finished this race though and toughed it out to the finish.

I did everything right. I got in my early morning swims. I got in countless rides over 100 miles. I ran 35-50 miles a week all winter. I ate right and slept a lot. I was lean, fit and strong. I corrected previous mistakes. I had my race fueling dialed in and I practiced it day and day out for almost a year. I sacrificed and I sacrificed some more. I lived ate and breathed ironman training for the last 7 months. I put my wife through hell while training for this and for what? I had my race plan dialed in and all I needed to do was execute. I executed my plan perfectly on race day. How could things turn out so badly? Where did I go wrong? Why am I cursed at Lake Placid? I don’t why I do this to myself over and over. I worked so hard only to have it crumble in front of my eyes on race day. I don’t know what I did wrong. Should I have taken some more time off when my groin pull bothered me in February? Or when that heel issue came up, should I have stopped running for a while? I went to my chiro guy every week and had the knots worked on. I constantly worked on my own trigger points and stretching. Why was I in so much pain on race day? Why did this happen? Was it the cold weather? All that hard work and it didn’t amount to anything, I feel like quitting this sport. I can’t believe how much I put Lindsay through as well as my family while training for this. I wanted to go to Hawaii so badly it burned my blood.

I will come out of this a better athlete. I will learn from this and continue to move toward my dreams.

Perspective

I just wanted to post something that I have been thinking about a lot lately. It's something that I seem to always come back to but get easily off track. It's perspective. Just the mere fact that I and my fellow triathletes can participate in this great sport is a gift all on it's own. Just the fact that our basic needs are being met to the point that we can actually focus on somthing as luxurious as getting fit and fast. This is something I am truly thankful for. How the hell am I so lucky that I can do this stuff? There are people who don't know how they will get their next meal or where they are going to sleep tonight or that just lost a loved one. I admit that I often go down a road of laser focus with blinders on while I train like crazy. When I'm in this mode it's easy to lose site of the big picture and get hung up on small challenges and hurdles. I would like to get better at balancing the laser focus with the above perspective which yields a ton of gratitude.

I also want to give thanks to-

My family for being awesome and working through challenges together
My wife for putting up with me when I get that laser focus and don't hold up my end of the deal (i.e., being a dead beat husband)
The people around me who try to act from the heart in a world of bureacracy
The people that are trying to help our planet even at the smallest act of just trying to drive less.
This could go on all day.


Stream of consciousness over now

IM Florida 70.3 Race Report

The week leading into this race was totally crazy with Lindsay not sure if she was going to race because her sister hadn’t had her baby yet. Well all the stars aligned and the timing was perfect. Meghan had the baby which is now no longer called “Spawn” but Bridget and Lindsay was able to see Bridget and still do the race. We flew out together on Friday and crashed with some GMM tri friends from Vermont while down there which made it a lot more fun.

Race morning

I had my QT2 systems breakfast at around 4:20 for the 7:20 start. Applesauce, banana, bottle sport drink, and scoop of whey protein and some Starbucks. I was ready to rock. This race was huge with a transition area that seemed to be about a half mile long …crazy. My wave was second to last ---I wasn’t too happy about that as I hate going late like that mostly because you don’t really know where your competitors are. This was a non wetsuit swim as well. The gun goes off and I quickly found a nice set of feet to sit on. I was moving pretty good and tried to pass but I couldn’t get past him so I just stayed on his feet. I actually felt very comfortable probably too comfortable but I kept trying to see if I could get past him and I couldn’t so I knew I was moving at a good pace. I got out of the water in around 33 minutes which is way slower than my PR but I had anticipated this and knew the swim times would be slower on the day with out the wetsuit. I later realized that it really was a solid swim relative to my competitors. I used the new Xterra velocity speed suit----thanks Xterra!!!

I went as fast as I could through transition and saw lots of bikes still on my rack (all people who started in my wave or ahead of me) which is a good sign.

Bike

I was absolutely hammering the bike and feeling great, I’d look down and be going 26 mph and feeling super comfortable. I was flying. It was a constant stream of bikers out on the road and I was passing people for the whole 56. There was only one guy that I yo yo’d with for a lot of the bike who started in my wave and went on to be second in my age group and one of the top amateurs. I hit the 25 mile mark in 59:xx. Booyah!!!! I was cranking. I held a little over 25 mph avg speed until around 50 miles or so when I started getting a cramp in my left quad. The only mistake I made on the day was not drinking the 4.5 bottles recommended and only drank 3. Even though felt like I was drinking constantly –I just need to drink more (majority of my electrolytes come through my sport drink). The last 5-6 miles I had to back off because of my quad so I lost a bit of time the last few miles. I got off the bike in around 2:19 and my bike was the only one on the rack---that’s really cool.

Run

It was already crazy hot and humid. My quad was locking up/cramping pretty bad, I kneeled down to try and get it to release. I took 2 salt tabs (thermotabs) and kept saying “release” while I was running through the locked up quad---definitely some pain going on here. HTFU was repeated several times. In fact the whole run needed a pretty constant stream of HTFU’s because it was just brutal. No shade, 90 degrees, humid, lots of people were walking. After the first mile my quad released and I tried to get the tempo up. I hit the first few miles in 6:30-6:40 then struggled to hold 7s. The heat and the grass just made it hard to really stay light and fast. Half the course was on grass in kind of open field area that we did an out and back part of 3 loops. It was brutal. I got into bike racer mentality and decided that most people were suffering the most on the grass section so this was the section I would work the hardest. I really really suffered through those sections and then cruised the pavement section and went back to pushing the grass section each lap. Apparently I caught more people overall and in my age group on the run---that’s very cool as I usually lose a few spots on the run. Run times were slow with the heat and grass. I was around 1:34.

Finish was super satisfying, there really is nothing like finishing a long race after putting in your best effort. It was the kind of effort that I felt like if someone went faster than me on the day then my hat goes off to them because I was hammering and racing strong. I came in at 4:31. It wasn’t the time I was hoping for or near my PR but relative to my competitors it was solid.

I ended up 4th in my age group out of 254 and 30th overall out of around 2000. I was also 16th amateur. I am definitely happy with this result. I’ve never finished this far up at a big M-dot race. I want to thank my coach Jesse at QT2 systems for helping get this strong.

Lindsay also had a solid day in her second half ironman ever. She was 12th in her age group out of 86.

Green Mountain Triathlon Race Report

I raced the Green Mtn triathlon yesterday (5/4/08)in the Rutland area and got my first victory of the season! This was a low key pool triathlon put on at Green Mtn College by the adventure program students. It was very well organized and had great volunteers as well---thanks guys. Lindsay and I did this race back in 2002 but the course was different this year. Lindsay by the way decided to train this weekend instead of race as her masters program had dug into some of her training time over the last couple of weeks. The weather this past weekend had been pretty bad---cold and rainy. I almost didn't do the race. I was at the end of a recovery week so the timing was perfect to get in a race specific workout. I'm about 2 weeks out from the Florida 70.3 (half ironman). 2 weeks out from a half iron is excellent timing to get in some sharpening from a high intensity effort. When I got to the race site and checked in I saw a friend/competitor Paul Fronhofer from Ney York. Paul and I have raced together several times and we duke it out pretty closely on the bike. He is a very strong cyclist posting one of the fastest bike splits last year at Ironman Lake Placid. I think he went around 5:10 or so. Anyhow I greeted him and said "so we're gonna duke it today eh?" He said he was only doing the swim and bike because he had a fracture in his foot and can't run right now. I hope he heals up well. He mentioned a guy named Pat O'keefe would be here who won Lake George triathlon last year. Paul said Pat would swim about a 5 min 500 yard swim, wow that is crazy fast. Pat apparently was a division I swimmer in college. He was second out the water last year Ironman Lake Placid with a 47 min swim!!! Sick! I was actually relieved though that there were some strong guys here to really race it with. The head to head compettion is one of the things I love about this sport and I was going to get a chance as Paul, Pat and I would start near each other on the swim. The faster swimmers went last and each person had their own lane and there was maybe 50 or so people total and only 5 lanes. We were able to start the race around 10:40 or so. Paul ended up starting a few minutes ahead of me but Pat and I got to start at the same time which I was psyched about as he was my key competition on the day (but I was also competing with Paul on the swim and bike). We start and Pat is absolutely flying 2 lanes down from me. I think he lapped me once. I knew the lap counters were off when I hit the 250yard point and they didn't put in the half way card, they did on the next 50. I wasn't too happy about this but just shook it off. I hit 500 per my count at 6:20 but did the extra 50 anyway. I got out in 7:00. I knew this was off because all winter I was hitting 6:30 and 6:40s for 500 splits in my 800 time trials. Pat had gone around 5:10 or so and I needed to chase hard. Once on the bike my legs felt amazing---Jesse those BST sets on the bike are incredible. I have never felt so powerful on the bike. Mentally I was trying to keep it together as I let an additional 40 seconds go on Pat by doing that extra 50. I was going so hard on the bike but still not seeing anyone ahead of me. I just kept telling myself to recognize how good my legs feel and keep pushing as hard as I can. Finally I saw some people in the distance. I kept pulling them back and eventually passing them it was Pat and one other person. Awesome but then I realized Pat's twin brother was here racing too(no kidding) and I was hoping it was acutally Pat (it was). I caught him around mile 12 or so and had another 6 miles to keep putting time into him. Once on the run I couldn't belieive how good my run legs felt---I felt like a gazelle. I was absolutely flying faster than I've ever run off the bike. I hit the first mile in about 5:30!! I felt great. My coach is a genius!!! Once we got the results I had figured that Paul Fronhofer had beaten my bike split but it turned out that I outsplit him by 20 seconds!!! I couldn't believe it. The race was very well organized for this type of event. Nice job to everyone who raced!!! There were lots of people doing their first triathlon. I love seeing this and feel so humbled by their courage to take on a new challenge.


Here's the stats

1st overall
swim 6:20 / 500 yards
bike 48:31 / 18.5 or so miles
run 18:05 (on my watch)

Running out of my head

So I haven't posted in a while and am going to get things rolling here again. I will post a race report soon from the Run Vermont Half marathon (5th overall with a 1:20 personal best on a course with a mile of snow). Anyhow I am extremely happy with where my fitness is right now. I have worked harder and smarter than ever before. My coach is a genius and I should have started working with him earlier. My run is where I think I've made the most noticeable improvements although my swim TTs show I'm ahead as well. My bike fitness feels great but I don't have a powermeter to really gauge things and haven't done a bike TT yet. I know I'm averaging around 21 mph at aerobic threshold (Ironman race pace) so that is good. On the the run--- people have been asking me what have I done differently and I want to summarize that in this post. Basically Jesse got my heart rate zones dialed in correctly. I had previously thought my lactate threshold on the run was around 175-178 but this was way too high and not correct. My run LT is actually 161-164. So once that got fixed my aerobic threshold (AeT) was calibrated correctly. Once I had this number (141 on the run), pretty much every single run for 16+ weeks was run right at that HR. I was not allowed to go over it unless I was racing (once a month). What happened was jaw dropping, makes me speechless kind of stuff. Every single run was focused on running as fast as I can without going over 141. I had to keep perfect form and restraint to not go over that number. I had to walk up hils early on. My pace at 141 kept improving and is still getting quicker (although at this point I'm wondering if some of it is from a fried peripheral system). Anyway here are the avg paces I ran at 141 since Dec. This heart rate point is about 20 beats below my lactate threshold. As my pace at AeT lifts, so does my pace at LT without even doing speed work!!


Dec 7:45
Jan 7:30
Feb 7:05
March 6:50
April 6:34

With a 6:34 avg pace at aerobic threshold that predicts some scary fast times. It predicts 15:59 for 5k!!, 1:14 for half marathon and 2:36 for the marathon. This is out of hand and too good to be true. I will need to race to prove it to myself.

I also want to add that in addition I have had a much bigger focus on nutrition this year (way more fruits and veggies) and different timing of my carbs. I am following what Jesse calls the "core diet". Check it out on his site www.qt2systems.com

Limits and Learning

I’m going to just ramble on about a few things here so bare with me. One of the fundamental things that I love about triathlon is related to the quote by Lance above. I am totally driven by the fact that when you put the training time in, your body adapts to the stress and gets stronger. I have been able to see firsthand that when I work hard I am rewarded by my body being able to go faster and farther. This is one of the most satisfying experiences. I am constantly (or at least at certain times of the year) realizing that the limits I thought I had are actually higher than I thought. This inspires me to push into new territory and explore whether or not I can handle that level of training or push that fast at a race that’s maybe 4 + hours long. When I first started racing long distance triathlons in 2005 I was very tentative and did not push very hard. I now go about as hard in a half ironman as I do in an Olympic distance race. I am constantly wondering where that cap is of reaching the highest point of fitness I can reach. I feel like physiologically I haven’t even scratched the surface.

I also find endless satisfaction in helping others succeed in this sport. Many people have helped me greatly over the years and I have a learned a lot and am still learning (something else I enjoy---learning more). I coach a masters swim group at First in Fitness in Berlin, VT. Right now we have about 10-12 people who regularly swim on Thursday nights. We have a wide range in abilities from folks who are new to distance swimming up to a guy who used to swim with Sheila Taormina and can hold 1:10 pace per 100. This guys swims about half a length underwater each push off. At any rate it’s a really fun group and I give folks an individualized look at their technique and point things out to them, give them appropriate drills that will address their limiters. When people say how much something helped or they had a moment where something I said clicked for them---these are some of the times that I feel rewarded 10 fold and it only motivates me more.

I also am still learning and I find a lot of enjoyment in it. Some of the people I have learned a great deal from (either personally or via reading)particularly around training protocols are: My coach- Jesse Kropelnicki, Kurt Perham, Paulo Sousa (via his blog and long time as a slowtwitcher; www.thetriathlonbook.blogspot.com , Gordo Byrn, Joe Friel, the teachings of Arthur Lydiard, Matt Fitzgerald, Greg McMillan, Dr Romanov of pose running, Mark Allen, Mike Llerandi, Tim Snow, Tim Watson, Dan Empfield, Kyle Bujnicki of vitamin connection, Jonathan Caron (via slowtwitch). These are just a few I have learned from. I am constantly reading everything I can on this topic and also love discussing it. My take is that there will always be a reason to learn more.